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PHILADELPHIA – Nelson Agholor insists that he didn’t pay attention to the negative things said about him last season and during the preseason, when he was dropping passes and not living up to the expectations of a first-round pick.

Agholor said if he had paid attention, he wouldn’t have had the success he had on Sunday, when he caught four passes for 57 yards including a 35-yard touchdown reception in the Eagles’ 29-10 win over the Cleveland Browns. The four receptions were a career high, and Agholor only surpassed 57 yards in a game twice last season. His career high is 64.

For the second-year player, the success was simply “having belief in the process and the preparation and the body of work I’ve put in day in and day out in practice.”

Agholor has never wavered in that regard. Just like Jordan Matthews, Agholor is devoted to the pre- and post-practice work on the JUGS machine, so much so that Agholor purchased one to use at his house.

But Agholor has also learned to tune out the negativity through a book he is reading called, “As A Man Thinketh,” by James Allen.

“One of the chapters was on was on happiness,” Agholor said. “The man who seeks happiness in a selfish way doesn’t get happiness; he gets negativity. If you seek to be a blessing to others and if you seek to be there for others, happiness comes to you.”

There was plenty of negativity coming Agholor’s way after last season, in which he had just 23 receptions (on 44 targets) for 283 yards and one touchdown. It didn’t get any better during the preseason. Agholor had just two receptions for 30 games in four games, along with his share of drops.

Agholor wasn’t the only Eagles receiver who was criticized over the summer. But he bore the brunt of it considering that he was a first-round pick (20th overall) last year and expected to blossom into a dependable receiver behind Matthews.

Agholor, however, rarely showed signs of that before Sunday. The four receptions came on five targets, and he didn’t drop a pass.

“Listen, they have been beaten up enough to know what they need to do,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said about the receivers in general, although he could have easily been referring to Agholor. “When I say, ‘beat up,’ [the media] has definitely let them know what’s going on.

“I’ve got faith in them. I’ve got trust in confidence in them. I see them work every single day and it just goes to show that you put the hard work in, it’s going to pay off on Sunday.”

Agholor’s touchdown reception was an example of that. The Eagles had just converted a 4th-and-4 from the Browns’ 40 midway through the third quarter while holding a five-point lead. On the very next play, from the Browns’ 35, Pederson called for quarterback Carson Wentz to go deep into the end zone to Agholor.

Agholor lined up on the right side with Cleveland cornerback Joe Haden on him. Haden, a Pro Bowl cornerback, tried pressing him at the line. Agholor fought him off, then caught Wentz’s pass in full stride just as he crossed the goal line.

“When Coach called it, I was pretty excited,” Wentz said. “And Nelson, right off the ball, just killed his guy. He had a great release. I just put it out there for him and he was running. It was great.”

Added Matthews: “To make that play on that type of corner, you have to have the mindset that he’s working on his craft. He’s not worried about the fact that [Haden] is one of the best corners in the league against him. Nelson did his thing and then Carson put it where it had to be. So I feel like that play was really big for us.”

Granted, it was only one game. But the Eagles can’t help but be encouraged by Agholor’s start to the season. Agholor said he’s not about to take that for granted when the Eagles play the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

“For those to be the results, it is gratifying because it reminds you when you go back to practice that you have to prepare like I did the week before,” Agholor said. “Results like that come from those grind days. So that’s what’s on my mind right now.”